Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1887-04-13
SILVER IN BAGS.

According to the statement given at the
treasury department about 30,0O00 GOO trade
dollars will probably be redeemed. 1t is pos
sible to estimate what this amount of silver
means. Surprising the trade dollar to be of
the same weight as the standard dollar-and
it weighs, as / have stated, seven and q half
grains more-30, OO0, 900 would weigh 500 tons,
and as a ton is a good load for a two horse
team it would take 900 horses to haul them.
The actuary of the treasury the man who
does much of the big figuring for the govern
'nent, estimates the weight of ,0OO, 600 stand
ard dollars at twenty-six and three-quarter
tons of 2,240 pounds avoirdupois each. He
says 81 100000 in gold weighs one and two
third tons, and 81 900 900 in nickels weighs
100 tons
This immense amount Of money will neces-
state the building of a new treasury vault, as
the old ones are now filled with silver i
listed them this afternoon. All but one are
packed to their utmost. There is room for
about So 900, 900 more. The treasury has re-
reived Sl2,0O0,oO0 within the last three
months, and it averages now 81. 900 900 a
week, or nearly S30O0O0 a day. The only
vault left is one that is set aside for
'ubsidiary coinage This has been given
up to standard silver dollars, the subsidiary
liver being packed in one end, and there is
ow about $50, 0O0, 900 in it. / stood within it
p-day and watched them pack the silver,
lie upon pile. The silver is kept in bags of
'hite linen duck. They are about the
ize of a schoolboy's s,chel, and each one
odds just 900 silver dollars They are tied
With strings at the top, and each bag weighs
iNty pounds. The letters ~. s." arc stamped
IN black ON the bags, which are weighed when
they come in, and the bags are counted again
and again as they are put away. The piling
II these bags is as careful work as the most
scientific masonry. They have to be piled up
very skillfully, as the silver moves about very
much, and they would otherwise break out
the iron and stone walls of the vault Even
as it is tho silver is continually moving about
IN the bags, and you may hear it creak and
link as the dollars move this way and that
It the change of pressure This creakng
goes on continually, even after the vaults are
full
These Tags are 30 piled that they overlap
ZACH other, and | give you here a sketch
howing how these tons Of silver dollars are
1cSei away. The sketch Is from the
GtS!diary silver vault. This vault is about
ixteen by twenty feet in size, or as large as a
ood sized city parlor 1t is divided into
Compartments by iron lattice work, and the
'reSsure against this lattice work is 50 strong
lat one compartment cannot be filled
cfore the other, As it is, these bags can
only be piled thirty tiers high, and they do
not reach to the ceiling by several feet. II
hey were piled higher they would burst
the steel walls of the vault, and when YOU re-
member that these walls are six inches thick,
you can appreciate the immense pressure.
Now q load Of silver is brought in to he
piled away. The bags are packed on a little
@r.rl.t H.. "A. III l..
boys play wagon, hat which contains 81, 900
in twenty-five white canvas bags. That
little wagon is carrying 500 pounds Of
silver. 1t is hauled right into the vault, and
two co,ored laborers deity pack the bags
away, and as the men work the money clinks
with music that would delight any niiser
These piis~ are almost as compact as though
.hey were of solid silver
The great bullion vault, however, is down
below this in the basement Entering an